The Path of Immortality
by Torchwood456
Summary: Set after CoE - Ianto has five minutes to convince Jack to say the three words Jack has never said before but along with the words come the curse Jack hates. A CoE fix-it.
1. The Path to Immortality

**This is my attempt of a CoE fix-it though I'm not sure whether to continue it. Please give your thoughts?**

**Disclaimer: Torchwood does not belong to me.**

It was a few days after Jack had left Gwen on top of a Welsh hill claiming to be going to a ship in space. Instead Jack had gone back to London and was sat in a pub staring at the pint glass in front of him. His thoughts were focused on the recent events of the 456 and all the people he had lost over the past three years. Owen, Tosh and Steven but most of all was Ianto. The words Jack had never said to Ianto, in fact to anyone, immediately entered Jack's head whenever he thought of Ianto. There had been many times when he had longed to say the three simple words but it was the curse that came with the words that had always stopped Jack from saying them.

-TW-

Ianto stood in the darkness, as he had done for what felt like months now. He could hear noises of creatures but couldn't quite spot the source of the noise. So Ianto had remained in the same spot, not wanting to provoke some unknown creature to attack him but as the days had past Ianto had become more and more use to the noise. Now, as cautiously as he could, Ianto made his first proper step. As Ianto continued to take more cautious steps he became more and more aware of the noise becoming quieter, as if he was moving away from the unknown creatures. Ianto continued to move, quicker and with more courage and once the noise from the unknown creatures was almost gone; Ianto could just make out two figures in the distance. Ianto squinted, wondering if he was going mad. It looked as if there were two humans waiting for him. Ianto hurried his pace curious to find out if he knew the people who were watching him and as Ianto got closer he realised the figures were Jack and Gwen. Ianto frowned and came to a stop as quickly as he could. He doubted that Gwen was dead and he knew for certain that Jack wasn't. "Who are you?" Ianto asked as loud as he could muster. "You're not Jack or Gwen. They're not dead."

The reply Ianto got wasn't what he had expected and the voice was almost creepy. The reply came in barely a whisper but was carried across to Ianto liked wind. _"You can see Jack again if that's what you want. You can stay with him forever if he admits to you his love." _Ianto didn't believe the voice but decided he would do anything just to see Jack again.

"O…Okay," Ianto stammered, unsure of what was going to happen next.

"_You'll only have five minutes. If you touch a human being you will come straight back here. Use the time wisely." _Ianto barely had time to register the words before a bright white light dazzled him.

-TW-

Jack heard the noise of the pub door open behind him but didn't bother to look round. He was too busy dealing with his guilt and regrets to even look round when some person sat down beside him. The only person Jack wanted to talk to at that moment was someone he thought he wasn't going to be able to talk to again. "I've never seen you in a bad mood like this," Jack head jerked up when he heard a welsh accent. At first he worried that Gwen may have found him but instead the person he saw almost made him fall off his chair backwards, instead his jaw fell open when his eyes met Ianto Jones'. Ianto was wearing the same suit and waistcoat as the one he had worn when he had died though he looked exactly as Jack had remembered him.

"Ianto, what are you doing here?" Instead of being excited to see Ianto, as Ianto had thought Jack would be. Jack's tone was slow and cautious and his eyes widened when he remembered what had happened the first time someone he had loved had died and more recently when Estelle had died. "No." Ianto looked up at Jack suddenly, more excitement in his eyes than when he had first spoken to Jack.

"You mean it's true?" Ianto asked in astonishment and Jack sighed; Ianto hadn't believed it but had come to see Jack one last time. Jack turned his attention back to the pint glass. "You can give someone immortality?"

"Just one person," Jack shrugged, not turning to look at Ianto. Jack had wanted to see Ianto again but he didn't want their conversation to be like this.

"Just not me," Jack almost jumped at Ianto fierce tone. The last time he had heard Ianto speak like that was with the Lisa incident and Jack didn't like it when Ianto spoke like it.

"You don't understand," Jack turned back to Ianto now and Ianto could see pain in his eyes. "Everyone thinks immortality is a great gift but all it's not. It's a curse and you have to believe me when I say that I don't want to give anyone this curse because I wish I didn't have it myself."

"No, it's you who doesn't understand!" Although Ianto snapped he wished the conversation wasn't going this way. He had hoped for a happy conversation before Ianto left Jack for the last time but it didn't look like that was going to happen. "You don't understand what it's like to die properly. To be stuck in that darkness after losing everything from your life beforehand."

"I know," Ianto frowned at the sound of regret in Jack's voice. "I wish I did. My life has been too long. I don't want you to go through this."

"Okay," Ianto gave up and wanted to change the topic for the small amount of minutes he had left and one question suddenly dawned on him. "Where's Gwen?"

"Wales," Jack replied as he took a small sip from the almost fall pint glass. For the first time, Ianto realised how calm Jack was.

"Where are we?" Ianto continued to ask questions, not wanting the conversation to die down.

"London," Jack replied simply as he placed the pint glass back on the counter. "Ianto, Torchwood's finished." Though Jack spoke fiercely, Ianto could tell Jack wished it was still going.

"Why?" Ianto asked softly, not wanting to upset Jack any more than he already had.

"It causes too many deaths," Jack replied, staring right into Ianto's eyes. "Yours, Steven's, Owen's, Tosh's, Suzie's and so many more." Ianto opened his mouth and was about to ask who Steven was but set against it, concluding the subject would probably hurt Jack.

Ianto looked down at his watch. "I only have two minutes left, Jack. I want you to know – my death. It wasn't your fault. Don't blame yourself for it." There was silence and Ianto knew Jack was making a decision. Maybe he had managed to persuade him to give him this supposed curse. Ianto looked back at his watch. "I only have forty five seconds Jack." As soon as the words were out of Ianto's mouth, Jack stood up, taking Ianto by surprise.

"Ianto Jones," Jack smiled and lightly placed his hands on Ianto's. "I-" Jack blinked and Ianto had disappeared, his hands now rested lightly on the seat which Ianto had occupied. At first Jack was too shocked to speak then he found his voice and looked up to the pub's ceiling. "No! I was going to say it. You didn't give me enough time."

-TW-

"Ianto Jones," Ianto smiled back at Jack but his smile quickly faded when he felt Jack place his hands against his. Within a blink Ianto was surrounded by darkness again. At first Ianto was too shocked to speak then he found his voice and spun round to the figures of Jack and Gwen.

"That's not fair," he screamed angrily. "I had thirty seconds. He was about to do it. Send me back."

"_You only had twenty seconds and we did warn you."_

"Please," Ianto begged. "Give me twenty more seconds."

"_Fine."_

-TW-

When Jack stopped shouting he closed his eyes, wishing Ianto to come back somehow. Suddenly Jack felt skin under his hands for less than a second before they quickly pulled away and his eyes shot open. Ianto was there once again, smiling. They stared at each other for five seconds before Ianto started speaking – fast. "Jack I have less than twenty seconds. If you touch me I'll get sent back. It's now or never."

"Ianto Jones," Jack tried again, this time keeping his hands away from Ianto's. Jack took a deep breath as he prepared to say the three words he had never said since he became immortal. "I love you."

Ianto took a massive breath when he felt the claws of the darkness leave him and fell into Jack's arms as he fell unconscious. Jack stared down at Ianto who he held in his arms, his eyes full of horror. He had done the one thing he had promised himself he would never do. He had given someone immortality and he didn't like it.


	2. The Return of Torchwood

**Thank you for reviewing, favourting and alerting this story. I was surprised to find so many alerts in my email. This chapter doesn't have that much action in but the next chapter involves Ianto revealing a few secrets.**

The Return of Torchwood

Ianto's eyes snapped open and he was surprised to find himself in a dim room which seemed to be falling apart. He was lying on a creaking old mattress and he quickly sat up. At first he couldn't remember what had happened but when he scanned the room and noticed Jack sitting in the corner; he remembered exactly what had happened. "Jack?" Ianto called out the name softly.

Jack didn't look up but he did speak. "What?" Jack didn't snap and instead spoke in a calm but regretful tone which Ianto had never heard from Jack before.

"Thank you," Ianto muttered. He was unsure if Jack had heard him but when he saw Jack glance up, Ianto guessed he had. The room fell into silence but unlike the night before Ianto didn't mind a pause in the conversation. If the figures had been right, he now had all the time in the world and that thought sent a shiver down his spine. Ianto suddenly realised why Jack had been so reluctant however Ianto didn't let that bother him. He got out of bed and walked over to the window. He looked down to see the remains of the water tower. "We're in Cardiff."

"Yep," Ianto jumped when he heard Jack's cheerful tone and glanced over his shoulder to see Jack making his way over to the window. When Jack reached him, Ianto turned so they both stood facing each other.

"What are we doing here?" Ianto asked.

"We're Torchwood Cardiff," Jack said as if it was obvious.

"You said Torchwood was finished," Ianto pointed out, raising an eyebrow.

"That was before you returned!" Jack turned and ran out of the door, leaving Ianto staring at one of the walls to the room. "Come on, we have some rebuilding to do." Ianto smiled – he had missed this. He turned and ran after Jack.

-TW-

Gwen walked. It was becoming a routine now. Every morning after a quick breakfast she would tell Rhys she was going to the leisure centre to swim then go to the remains of the water tower outside the Millennium Centre. She stopped on the bridge above the square and looked down, allowing all the memories of Torchwood to return. This would be one of the last times she would be able to look down on the square as her and Rhys had decided to move house. Gwen frowned as two men moved closer to the wreckage. She stared in amazement – one was wearing a long military coat and the other was wearing a suit. Immediately, Gwen knew the figures were Jack and, although it was impossible, Ianto. Gwen turned and began to make her way down to the square as quickly as she could.

-TW-

Ianto finally managed to catch up with Jack when they reached the remains of the old Torchwood hub. The two stood in silence for a minute, allowing all the memories of the old Torchwood to return. "We have a lot of work to do," Ianto spoke, breaking the silence when he thought of Owen or Tosh. He and Tosh had got quite close as friends until she had died. They had understood each other and Ianto still couldn't register that she was gone. Although Owen and Ianto hadn't always gotten on, Torchwood had been different without Owen's sarcasm and snarky comments.

"Good job I've got you then," Jack smiled. "I'd never be able to do it on my own." Ianto wasn't listening, his thoughts had wondered over to when the Torchwood hub had blown up with Jack inside. He turned his head to look up at the bridge he had stood on when parts of Jack's body had been found. Ianto quickly turned back to Jack.

"Did you invite Gwen?" Ianto asked but Jack was muttering to himself and didn't register what Ianto had said. "Jack!" Jack turned to Ianto.

"What?" Jack asked. "I was calculating the-"

"Did you invite Gwen?" Ianto repeated, cutting Jack off before he could start a long lecture.

"No, why?" Jack asked, looking a bit hurt that Ianto had cut him off before he could start showing off.

"She is," Ianto turned to point up to the bridge which was now empty. "She was up there."

"Are you sure you weren't imagining it Ianto?" Jack asked doubtfully. "I doubt she'd come back here."

"Jack! Ianto!" Another Welsh accent came from the square and Ianto and Jack turned round to see Gwen waddling towards them. Ianto's mouth fell open – Gwen was pregnant. How much had he missed? Ianto glanced at Jack who seemed to have a look of horror on his face but before Ianto could say anything, Gwen was standing opposite them.

"What are you doing here?" Jack asked in shock.

"What am I doing here?" Gwen repeated his question. "What are you doing here? You went up to some spaceship and you," Gwen turned to Ianto. "You're meant to be dead."

"Hello to you too," Ianto smiled.

"I am glad you're here," Gwen said quickly. "But why didn't anyone tell me?"

"I only got back yesterday," Ianto shrugged.

"Back from where?" Ianto wasn't exactly sure what to say.

"Well… being dead," Ianto explained awkwardly before quickly changing the subject. "You're pregnant."

"Enough chat," Jack cut in from where he had been standing and listening to the conversation. Ianto guessed he just wanted to get Torchwood back up and running. "We can catch up later when we're not standing in the middle of a wreckage."

"Where are we going to go then?" Gwen asked causing Jack to beam.

"We're not going anywhere," Jack smiled. "Torchwood is coming to us!" Ianto watched as a smile appeared on Gwen's face but it quickly disappeared.

"I'm moving in two days," Gwen said in horror.

"That's good. More room for the baby and hopefully closer to the hub to where you are now?" Jack suggested. He had pulled out a notepad and was drawing plans.

"Yeah, I suppose Aberystwyth is closer to the hub," Gwen spoke sarcastically. Ianto was struck by surprise as the half drawn plan was shoved into his hands and Jack spun round to face Gwen.

"Aberystwyth?" He repeated. "What do you want to live there for?"

"Because I did!" Gwen said defensively. "Cardiff reminded me too much of you, Owen, Tosh and Ianto." Gwen spun back round to Ianto leaving Jack staring open mouthed. "You said you came back from the dead." Ianto stared at Gwen and caught Jack shaking his head out of the corner of his eye.

"Did I?" Ianto asked.

"Gwen!" Jack called out as Gwen opened her mouth to ask another question. "Can you go back home and see if you can persuade Rhys to stay in Cardiff? Ianto, can you see if you can find the remains of the tourists' office and the secret corridor? I'll find the remains of the water tower and we'll go from there. If anyone asks, we're rebuilding the water tower." Ianto and Gwen nodded and Jack made sure Gwen was out of site before Jack turned and jogged after Ianto.

"Ianto!" Jack called as he rounded the corner onto the bay where the tourist's office had been and Ianto came into site. Ianto was in the middle of the remains of the tourist's office and turned round to face Jack.

"Yes sir?" Ianto asked.

"Just when I thought you'd stopped doing that," Jack sighed with a smile which Ianto returned. "You can't tell Gwen you're immortal."

"We don't even know if I am immortal. I may just have one more life," Ianto explained to Jack and even though Jack had not wanted to give Ianto immortality, he was now hoping Ianto was immortal. "What am I meant to tell Gwen? She saw me dead."

"Make something up," Jack called as he began to walk away. "You're good at that sort of thing!"

-TW-

One month later and the Torchwood hub was rebuilt. Two figures stood in the middle of the newly built base. They stood in silence, admiring their work. One wore a long military coat moved to one of the workstations and tossed a coms device over to the over figure. This figure, wearing a smart suit, caught the device before moving to the coffee machine and preparing three coffees. Unlike the man in the military coat, he didn't turn to face the door as the alarms blared.

"You're late!" Jack exclaimed as Gwen appeared in the doorway. She had managed to persuade Rhys to stay in Cardiff although he wasn't happy that she was returning to Torchwood while she was pregnant. Ianto had reassured him that Gwen wouldn't go into the field until after the baby had arrived.

"For what?" Gwen asked absently as she looked around the hub admiring the place just as Ianto and Jack had down moments ago. Though she had seen the place developing over the past few days she hadn't seen it up and running. Although Jack had created a plan for the hub just over a month ago, the hub looked the same as it did before it had been blown up.

"The official re-opening of Torchwood," Jack replied.

"Go on then – I'm here now," Gwen said as she sat down.

"I hereby declare Torchwood reopened!" Jack said in an official tone of voice.

"I'm so glad I didn't miss that!" Gwen muttered sarcastically.


	3. To Return From the Dead

**Sorry for the long wait but this one took a while to write because the words just didn't seem to want to be written and it's so long. Please read and review!**

To Return from the Dead

Ianto was cleaning the quiet hub. That was one of the things he had never got used to since Owen and Tosh had gone. With five people it was enough for them all to get on and talk with occasional silence which only really happened when Owen was late in. Ianto missed it all, the conversation, the banter and even Owen's sarcastic comments. The ghostly silence was spooky to Ianto and he had no idea why. Now, with three all the conversation is finished by lunch. The reason the hub was silent at 8am though was because it was early morning and Gwen hadn't turned up and Jack had gone down to set up the archives after persuading Ianto that he wanted to do it himself. Ianto finished cleaning the autopsy room as quickly as he could finding the fact that he was missing Owen slightly bizarre. Although it was a new hub, Jack had designed it as similar as he could and the memories were still in Ianto's head. As he moved on to the next work station he began to wish he had taking more time in the autopsy room. The next work station which Gwen had taken up was more or less in the same area as Tosh's had been. When he surveyed the desk Ianto realised he had been avoiding going near it for the past two weeks since he had last cleaned it. Ianto quickly swept all the mess on the desk into the black bag he was carrying, not caring if he had swept some of Gwen's possessions into the bag. He swiftly moved on to his coffee machine baring new memories as the old one had blown up with the hub.

Ianto was getting more worried about how long Jack was taking to set up the archives. Ianto knew it had been a bad idea to let Jack go down instead of him. Ianto wished he had gone down instead and avoided all the memories which had recently returned to him. He finally came to the decision to go and find out what was taking Jack so long after he had finished cleaning the new coffee machine, which Ianto had to admit, he preferred to the old one. "Ianto!" Ianto jumped as Jack's voice suddenly filled the room. He turned round to see Jack running up the stairs with Gwen. Both were happy and had obviously got over mourning the death of Owen and Tosh. He frowned and could have sworn he hadn't heard the alarms of the door as Gwen had entered.

"Yes sir?" Ianto returned the call.

"We're going employee hunting!" Jack beamed. "You got any suggestions? No family members though." Ianto's mouth fell open as he thought about Rhiannon. The last time he had spoken to her had been as he had walked to his death. When he returned he hadn't even thought of checking in on her. He didn't even know if she thought he was dead. "Ianto?"

"Oh, no sir," Ianto spoke quickly hoping neither Gwen or Jack would ask why he was suddenly behaving differently. He didn't really care if they did notice. All he wanted to do was go and see her. To check she was okay. He hadn't even thought to ask if Gwen and Jack had stopped the children being taken by the 456. Ianto's stomach lurched at the thought of turning up at his sister's house and not being met with children's laughter.

"Okay, we're going to get going. Do you want to come?" Jack invited Ianto as he and Gwen reached the door.

"No thanks sir," Ianto said, trying as hard as he could to sound casual. Jack left after that but Gwen lingered behind, looking at Ianto suspiciously. Ianto returned the look with a smile and Gwen left quickly after that. He then waited five longs minutes before hurrying out of the door praying that Jack and Gwen had done their job instead of mourning over him.

-TW-

Ianto stood outside the familiar looking house of the Davies' family and let out a sigh of relief. From outside the door he could hear the familiar voices of David and Mica who Ianto guessed were playing on one of the many games consoles in the house. Ianto took a deep breath before knocking on the door, praying that no one had informed them that he had died but the reaction he got when Rhiannon answered the door told him all he needed to know. Rhiannon had looked at him as if he was a ghost. "Ianto?" The name came out as a whisper as if Rhiannon was testing the name out.

"Rhi," Ianto returned the tone but with a smile instead of a look of horror. Suddenly, before he could do anything Rhi grabbed him and pulled him into the house and pushed him into the kitchen as Johnny, David and Mica appeared at the top of the stairs. Ianto listened as Rhiannon sent Johnny, David and Mica to the park. He felt rather disappointed that he wouldn't be able to see them but if they thought he was dead he understood that Rhiannon would won't answers before she revealed the news to the kids. Ianto looked up sheepishly as she entered the kitchen.

"You're not dead?" Rhiannon stated as soon as she got into the room in a stronger voice than when she had seen Ianto a minute ago. She walked over to the sofa and sat down.

"I'm afraid you haven't got rid of me that easily," Ianto joked, trying to cheer Rhiannon up as he followed her to the sofa and sat down himself.

"This is not funny Ianto," Rhiannon snapped and Ianto sighed as in inevitable happened and Rhiannon began to ask questions. "Some woman called Gwen came round here and told me you were dead, and to me she seemed like an honest woman. She told me you died saving the world. Don't tell me it was someone else Ianto because I had to go and confirm it was you. I went to your funeral so you better answer me this. What the hell is going on?"

"I'm going to sound crazy," Ianto warned her. He stopped for Rhiannon to give him any encouragement but she stayed quiet. So Ianto continued. He knew this had been coming and had prepared most of what he was going to say in the hasty car ride over. "Well it all started when I moved to London for that job I told you about."

"The sudden out-of-the-blue account job?" Rhiannon asked.

"Yes," Ianto confirmed. "You see-"

"It wasn't an account job was it," Rhiannon cut in.

"No," Ianto admitted. "I went to work as a junior researcher for an organisation called Torchwood London which was where I met Lisa. Then that Cyberman situation occurred and she was killed." Ianto didn't want to explain the complete story of what happened with Lisa as the wait between then and her final death had been painful for her.

"Why her?" Rhiannon asked softly.

"The Torchwood Institute was at first created to combat alien threat," Ianto continued to explain. "Torchwood London became too public and messed about with the alien equipment they had allowing the Cybermen to get through into our world from the void. As Torchwood London had alien equipment the Cybermen set their base up there and took Lisa for conversion." Ianto decided to move on to the next part, not wanting to remember the Battle of Canary Wharf or Lisa for any longer. "That's when I came back to Cardiff as Torchwood London had burnt down I had no job left so there was no point in staying in London." Ianto had to change the story a little as it had been Lisa who helped to persuade him to join Torchwood Cardiff. "I also found out that there was a Torchwood here in Cardiff so after some persuasion I joined up. It was different to Torchwood London with less people and we fought the aliens to help people in the city. After three years of working there, two of my colleagues died. Then when we were investigating the children thing about three months ago I died myself while trying to threaten the 456." As Ianto was speaking, Rhiannon's mouth had fell open at everything Ianto had said.

"So how are you here now?" Rhiannon asked slowly, almost cautiously as if she wasn't sure if she wanted to hear the tale.

"My boss is immortal and when I was dead I was told that the person he admitted his love for would be given immortality too," Ianto explained. He was rather surprised. Not only was Rhiannon taking the immortality serious but he was managing to talk about the short time he spent being dead. "So I went back for about five minutes and here I am."

"You're… immortal?" Rhiannon asked hesitantly, as if she didn't want to know the truth.

"I don't know," Ianto admitted. "It's either that or I have another shot at life."

"How long ago did you return to the Earth," Ianto was surprised at how well Rhiannon was taking the information in and smiled but that smile disappeared when he realised what she had asked. It was going to sound bad if he told her it had been around three months but he had just admitted loads of impossible things to her. Wouldn't she be glad he was admitting a more usual thing? Though Ianto had to admit forgetting about a sister for three months isn't a normal thing.

"Three months," Ianto mumbled, hoping Rhiannon wouldn't quite hear him and think he said a month. Though a month was bad it wasn't as bad as the three months he had been running around Cardiff to wrapped up with Torchwood to think about his own family.

"Three months!" Rhiannon exclaimed but Ianto wasn't listening as Rhiannon went to ramble. His phone had just gone off and he had received a text from Jack summoning him back to the hub. Ianto turned and walked out of the room and Rhiannon ran after him. "Where are you going?"

"I've got to go to work," Ianto answered, signalling to his phone which he still held in his hand. "I'm sorry for not visiting you in the last three months. Tell the kids I'll see them later." Ianto turned and walked out of the house towards his own car which he had brought as he didn't want a repeat of the incident which had happened the last time he had gone to see Rhiannon.

"I'm not sure I want to tell them you're alive," Rhiannon called after him. "At the rate you're going with this alien business you'll be dead again in less than a month." Ianto had frozen when she had mentioned him being dead again and turned to look back at Rhiannon who turned and went back into her house. Ianto sighed and got into his car, suddenly aware of what he had done.

-TW-

Ianto was unaware of the sirens blaring as he walked through the cog door. His thoughts were still on Rhiannon's horrified tone just before he had left. It had been that moment that Ianto realised why both Torchwood London and Jack had told him to make up a cover story. It had also been that moment that Ianto realised how lucky Gwen was that Rhys had taken it so well. Even when Gwen and Martha ambushed him and Gwen explained Martha would be stepping in as doctor until they found a more permanent employee, Ianto barely paid any attention and continued to walk towards Jack's office. Gwen and Martha left him by the stairs up to Jack's office which Jack had moved up to the second floor when they had rebuilt the building. When Ianto finally reached Jack's office, he stopped and knocked before entering. "Ianto, have you met Martha again then?" Jack had looked up from his desk when Ianto had entered.

"Yes sir," Ianto answered. He opened his mouth to continue but Jack was already speaking.

"I'm thinking of asking her to stay permanently," Jack said as he leant back in his chair. "What do you think?"

"It's your decision sir," Ianto shrugged.

"I suppose so," Jack agreed before Ianto could say anything else. "Though I'm not sure-"

"Sir!" Ianto cut in, speaking louder than he had meant to. Jack instantly stopped talking and looked up at Ianto. "I've done something stupid. When you were out looking for new employees… well, I went over to my sister's house and told her everything."

"What?" Jack exclaimed and sat up straighter in his chair, more alert. "How did she take it?"

"She took it well until I mentioned her telling the kids I'm still alive," Ianto answered. There was silence for a minute as Jack tried to think of a solution.

"We have a small amount of retcon in the archives," Jack finally suggested.

"No," Ianto disagreed. "I still want her to know I'm alive sir."

"Then all we can do is make sure she doesn't tell anyone about us," Jack decided. "You did tell her not to say anything didn't you?"

"Yes sir," Ianto nodded. "I sent her a text when I got back here." Ianto felt more relaxed now and after he and Jack spoke some more he turned and left the office, deciding he had better talk to Martha after he had basically ignored her earlier. He found Martha and Gwen by the workstations and they seemed to be looking for something. "Is everything alright?" Ianto asked as he reached them.

"My phone has gone missing," Gwen explained as she continued to move things around, desperately searching for the phone.

"Where did you put it?" Ianto questioned.

"On my desk," Gwen shot back and Ianto assumed she had been searching for her phone for a while. He suddenly remembered sweeping all the clutter off Gwen's desk earlier that day before he had gone to visit Rhiannon.

"It's in that bin bag over there," Ianto pointed to the black bag dumped by his coffee machine and watched as Gwen half ran over to it. Ianto turned to Martha who looked pretty happy that she didn't have to continue to look for Gwen's phone. "It's nice to see you again."

"You too," Martha smiled.

"I'm just going to go and check out the new archives," Ianto told Martha as he saw Gwen find her phone in the black bag. "I'll be back up later." Ianto turned and hurried out of the room towards the archives. Talking to Martha had reminded him of Owen and Tosh. Ianto was beginning to wish he had stayed dead.


End file.
